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The Experience Behind the Data: Engaging Survivors & Caregivers in Sepsis Research
Sepsis is a life-threatening emergency that happens when your body’s response to an infection damages vital organs. It affects over 1.7 million Americans each year, killing 1 in 5 adults and 1 in 10 children. Behind each one of those numbers is a patient, a family, or a caregiver whose experiences can reshape what research questions get asked—and how they get answered.
On September 29, 2026, we closed out Sepsis Awareness Month by hosting an alliance discussion with Megan Jones, Director of Community Education and Support at Sepsis Alliance. She was joined by Don Smith, a sepsis survivor who completed a PCORI-funded Sepsis Alliance program training survivors, caregivers, clinicians, and researchers to partner on sepsis diagnosis research. Together they discussed the role patients and caregivers can play in research.